What did work for me was being put under side control and then having a third person stand by and coach me through each step--"push his head away with your left hand, now get your left leg over his head..." And then I repeated the whole sequence again and again until I could do it without thinking about it (or at least without being reminded).

That is how we drill each new technique - my instructor will have each partner do it a couple / three times with him giving voice cues for every step (all together, same time). It is really nice for when you can't quite get it from watching him do it to have his voice saying "now reach under his leg and blah, blah, blah..." for the first few times you try a technique.

Ditto to the note taking also. I do a dump every morning while I drink my coffee. If I didn't have a class the night before, I review old notes. It saves me all the time. I'll be trying to get something and will be having problems, then will remember a key point I read in my notebook and will be able to adapt.

Originally Posted by Dinosaur AMP

You just can't go wrong when your getting armbar'd to Flogging Molly while a fire fighter is cursing at you in the background. Good stuff!

I can never make something work from just watching it, or just hearing it. I always have to try it. and it's easiest to learn when the teacher actually walks me through it. Especially on really complicated guard passes. But after a few tries, I can make it work... Well sort of, I've yet to get the feel for BJJ yet, so I'm not that good.

I had other martial arts training before where I just sat there half-assed and didn't really try to remember the steps of a technique. So in BJJ first day I committed myself to not wasting the instructor's time. See, I want to be on my instructor's good side as much as possible.

If I waste his time by turning off my brain because I'm tired and inexperienced without concentrating on what he's showing me then I'm wasting his time. Its easy to absorb stuff when you have a basic familiarity with it, but if you're inexperienced you REALLY need to pay attention. All the other guys just look bored because they've been doing it for months and they have the ability to absorb the technique.

I took a break from my BJJ class and am just doing MT/MMA Fighter training (same school). Even though I've only gone three times to BJJ, the fact I can't roll without crappling the other newbies at the school distrubs me. Its not a problem until two inexperienced people get together, then I find me being inexperienced combined with their inexperience increases the chance of crappling to creep in, as well as easily avoided injuries. Even the people who've been there a while may not know how to roll with a newbie to help him learn.

Also, One technique a night just isn't fast enough for me when it comes to grappling. Its not soley a newbie ego issue, its also a "what's the best use of my time" issue.

The way I see it if you're completely inexperienced it's better to memorize 15 well chosen techniques between 2 BJJ classes than it is going to 6 BJJ classes with no memorizing of additional techniques.

I've decided to concentrate on MT and when I have the bandwidth focus on BJJ. In the meantime I just watch BJJ videos and read up to help memorize techniques.

You should value your time at class. If you're out of breath and the instructor repeats a step FIVE times and you can't remember most of it then you're not really making full use of your time. You should make every effort to memorize what he shows you so you have more time to practice the technique.

Don't turn off your brain because you're tired from those three successive RNC's from the purple belt earlier.

I want my instructor to be happy and successful -- Helping me succeed at BJJ with our combined efforts. Otherwise, he may be a polite bullsifu to me out of frustration! (Wouldn't you?)

I understand your point about not wanting to waste a teacher's time, but my problem was not that I wasn't giving my full attention to the demos. The problem was that *in spite* of giving my full attention, I couldn't seem to learn just by watching. Getting tapped 862 times in a row by a brown belt made no difference because that happened after the demos were over, lol.

Starting next class, I'lll try to cultivate my ability to learn by observing as a skill in its own right. Next time should be easier because it'll be a beginners' class, not an all-belt-levels class like the first one. I'll start using a notebook, too. I like that idea.

If you use a notebook, be sure to write "my left hand" and "his right foot" instead of just "my hand" and "the foot". Otherwise you'll probably only spend a lot of time trying to figure out what the hell you were trying to describe afterwards.

I am also a BJJ newbie, and I'm going through the same experience. Sometimes the sequence of a technique is very long, and I don't get it just by looking at it. I have to repeat it a dozen times to get it going. So it's 'practice makes perfect'.

The idea of a notebook is great, but I'd rather buy a good book on the subject. Have you heard about Francisco Mansur? He has written a book on BJJ. Do you think it can be any good?

Also, One technique a night just isn't fast enough for me when it comes to grappling. Its not soley a newbie ego issue, its also a "what's the best use of my time" issue.

The way I see it if you're completely inexperienced it's better to memorize 15 well chosen techniques between 2 BJJ classes than it is going to 6 BJJ classes with no memorizing of additional techniques.

I've decided to concentrate on MT and when I have the bandwidth focus on BJJ. In the meantime I just watch BJJ videos and read up to help memorize techniques.

stop the presses and get a telegram to the great god helio's floating disembodied head - after three classes, the whitebelt wonder has figured out that everyone's been teaching bjj all wrong!

Having attended quite a few seminars and so exposed to other teaching methods, I don't like how some teachers will demonstrate the technique, then say "Now go do it". I much prefer to be talked through the series of movements. It's the way I learnt and I've found it to be very effective. Eddie Bravo does this and seems like a drill sergeant but by the end of it you certainly know the moves.